Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I am writing this fanfiction for my own amusement and make no profit, all recognizable characters in this story are the property of J.K Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, etc.
Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton, 3/6/1996, 00:19
"CRUCIO!"
Voldemort held Yaxley under the spell as he processed what he'd just been told. Both attacks had been utter failures!
He didn't have any word from Hogwarts but the word from Diagon Alley was that the werewolves were slaughtered before they could even reach their targets!
The ministry had a way to deal with werewolves and was well prepared for the attack somehow. This led to where he was now, torturing Corban Yaxley for not alerting him of this new development.
"Corban, you have one week to get me some useful information inside the ministry or I will find another way to punish you," Voldemort warned as he lifted the curse.
"I-I will, master," Yaxley stammered out from his place on the drawing-room floor.
"Good now get out of my sight, Inform Bellatrix I wish to speak with her," Voldemort ordered.
"Yes master," Yaxley sputtered as he staggered to his feet and hurried to leave the room.
Voldemort stared into the burning flames that were the only source of light in the room and pondered what he would do next. The attack tonight had taken him by surprise as werewolves had always had overwhelming success in the past. He had allied with Greyback in the early seventies long before the wizarding world knew the name, Lord Voldemort.
"You wish to see me?" Bellatrix asked, pulling him from his musings.
"I did, have you had any luck in finding the order's headquarters?" Voldemort asked as he glanced over at his servant.
"Yes my lord, it is in the heart of muggle London, not very far from Kings Cross station," Bellatrix answered.
"Can they be attacked there?" Voldemort pressed, though he was already certain that he knew the answer.
"No, the Black wards are very powerful and I believe they are also employing a fedelius charm, my lord," Bellatrix answered nervously as she came to kneel in front of his chair.
"I will think on this some more, keep observing the area around their headquarters and let me know if you see anything we can use," Voldemort instructed.
"As you wish, my lord," Bellatrix answered, as she bowed her head.
"Has there been any word from our spy inside Hogwarts?" Voldemort asked, sounding almost casual.
"Yes, Cassius says the school went into lockdown mode a little after curfew but he has no knowledge as to why," Bella replied.
"I believe that Greyback failed in his mission. Corban mentioned that Dumbledore appeared in the alley?" Voldemort questioned.
"He did, Dumbledore flamed in with that wretched phoenix of his, master," Bellatrix replied.
"Then Fenrir was most likely discovered before he could enter the castle," Voldemort said thoughtfully.
"Narcissa believes there is an undercover auror amongst the students. If there is, it is possible that Greyback was killed by one of those loud muggle things they used in the alley," Bellatrix suggested.
"Find out what happened to Greyback. Though after tonight, we shall not base our attacks around werewolves. Perhaps we should use something that cannot be killed," Voldemort pondered.
"Dementors?" Bellatrix suggested.
"No, I was thinking about inferi," Voldemort corrected with a vicious smile.
"Oh goodie, we get to make inferi," Bella exclaimed excitedly.
"We already have an army inferi," Voldemort smirked.
"Oh," Bellatrix said dully.
"I will let you relocate them," Voldemort offered.
"Can I take Lucius?" Bellatrix asked hopefully.
"You may, I believe it will take an entire team to move them all," Voldemort agreed as he rose from his seat and made his way to the liquor cabinet.
"Excellent, Lucius hates dead things," Bella giggled.
"Now we just have to decide where to send them," Voldemort said thoughtfully as he poured himself a glass of elf-made wine.
"They are rebuilding Hogsmeade," Bellatrix pointed out.
"No, we have already done enough damage to the village, I was thinking somewhere a bit more residential," Voldemort mused as he retook his seat.
"Godrics Hollow?" Bellatrix asked hopefully.
"I was thinking of Southern England, actually " Voldemort admitted.
"Cornwall?"
"Devon, there is a quaint little village that hosts quite a few wizarding families," Voldemort corrected.
"The Weasleys," Bellatrix nodded in understanding.
"Yes, I believe one of the order members holding back the werewolves was a Weasley," Voldemort said as he swirled the contents of his glass.
"His little veela whore is the one responsible for the capture of Snyde," Bellatrix scowled.
"Then the Weasleys must pay for defying us," Voldemort said before sipping from his glass.
"They will my lord," Bellatrix replied giving him an adoring smile.
"Of course they will. Do make sure that Lucius gets the brunt of the work, he hasn't been of much use to us lately," Voldemort instructed.
"It will be done, master," Bella replied looking quite pleased with this turn of events.
"Excellent," Voldemort said before he explained the location of the cave where he had a rather large stockpile of inferi. It took a bit longer to explain how to make them docile for transport but Bellatrix was quickly able to memorize his instructions.
"Do not go to the island in the centre of the lake," Voldemort warned.
"Of course, my lord," Bellatrix replied though she gave him a curious look.
"Then you may begin the task tomorrow. Though first, you must find a place to store them," Voldemort instructed, ignoring her inquiring look.
"I will begin putting a team together, we shall leave at first light!" Bellatrix exclaimed happily.
"Do not fail me," Voldemort said as Bellatrix rose to her feet.
"I would never, I live to serve your will," Bellatrix assured him as she swept from the room
Voldemort watched his best servant hurry to get started on her new task, if nothing else this would keep her occupied for a while.
Tonight had shown that the ministry was not sitting on its laurels, they had completely thwarted one of the largest attacks he had orchestrated since his return.
He had hoped the werewolves would have been much more effective but it would seem that the old muggle myth had some truth to it. Unfortunately, he would have to wait for the paper to find out how badly his forces had been defeated last night.
This wouldn't do at all, his cause was doomed to failure if they did not start getting reliable intelligence on the ministry's movements. He had always prided himself on having up-to-date information about the inner workings of the government. He had begun his first rise to power with an intricate network of spies in key ministry positions and had used them to great success. The ministry was always three steps behind him and that was how he preferred it.
About half of those spies were still in place after his return last June, but that was still more than enough to be abreast of the ministry's movements. He had been guiding the government from the shadows while simultaneously building up his forces. He had succeeded in ousting Dumbledore from his positions of power and had begun to rebuild his network of contacts in the ministry, all looked to be going to plan.
Unfortunately, after the attack on Halloween, his sources inside the ministry had started to dry up.
Lucius had been his most useful spy in the ministry, he had the minister in his pocket and was very gifted at wheedling top-secret information out of that imbecile Fudge. This was highly convenient as it was easy to stay a step ahead of them and was Lucius' contribution to the cause.
Then the fool had gone and got himself captured in Hogsmeade!
The death of McNair and then the ousting of Yaxley had happened days apart and had been heavy blows to his cause. Both men were valuable sources from the two departments of the ministry he was very interested in. Now he was blind and as he saw tonight, this was something he could not allow that to continue.
'Perhaps it was time to take matters into my own hands,' Voldemort thought to himself as he drained his goblet and stared into the fire.
Great Hall, Hogwarts, 3/6/1997, 11:39
The entire school was in chaos this morning. When Harry and the rest of his housemates had stepped off of the grand staircase, they had seen that the entrance hall was packed with ministry personnel. Dozens of men and women in red robes were busy photographing the area around the main doors while others scribbled away on clipboards. There was even a group of women wearing blue robes and sporting thick dragonhide gloves who were cleaning up big puddles of what Harry was certain was blood.
The lockdown had lasted until about an hour ago. Breakfast had been served in the common room and a little before eight, an announcement had been made that all morning classes were cancelled and all students were to be confined to their houses while the aurors processed a crime scene
All l of the Gryffindors were glad to be out of the packed common room. The Weasley twins had been quite obnoxious this morning, Harry guessed it was their way of coping with stress or maybe they were just bored. Whatever the reason, the wankers had set off a pack of dundbombs in the sixth-year boys' dorm at ten o'clock to prank Kenneth Towler. By a quarter 'til eleven, the smell had begun to waft down to the common room filling the room with a truly horrific smell. Unfortunately, when a lockdown was in effect the windows would not... open.
Harry thought that Hermione was going to throttle the twins but thankfully McGonagall's magically magnified voice had just issued through the tower informing the students that the lockdown was over.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the hall with the rest of the Gryffindors and rushed over to their usual seats, the smell of freshly cooked food filling their senses which was much desired to the scent of stagnant dung bombs they had been experiencing for the last hour.
They had barely taken their seats when Tonks (in the guise of Wendy) sat down beside him.
"Wotcher," Tonks said.
"Hey, I heard you had an eventful evening?" Harry said, wishing they weren't surrounded by prying ears.
"You could say that," Tonks snorted as she piled her plate with Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked worriedly.
"Yeah just a bit shaken up but we'll talk about that later," Tonks said, giving him a pointed look.
"Alright, you had me worried," Harry whispered as he places his hand on her thigh under the table.
"Thanks but I had things well in hand," Tonks assured him.
"Thank god," Harry whispered so only she could hear.
"So what's this I hear about the Weasley girl asking you out?" Tonks demanded as she turned to look him in the eye.
"Technically she didn't ask me out," Harry said uncomfortably.
"It's true, she said she was planning to ask him out but she never actually did," Hermione added helpfully.
"What?!" Ron demanded, shooting Harry an annoyed look.
"It was that morning you sent me and Ginny on that wild goose chase," Hermione smirked.
"Dammit, Ginny is going to drive me spare," Ron muttered.
"Then don't look down the table," Hermione advised, looking very amused at Ron's discomfort.
Harry wanted to facepalm, Hermione telling Ron not to look pretty much guaranteed that he looked down the table in time to see Dean and Ginny share a not-so-chaste kiss.
"I guess I don't have anything to worry about," Tonks chuckled.
"Nope but Ron sure does," Hary sniggered.
"That's it, I am writing to mum and telling her to do something about Ginny!" Ron exclaimed dramatically.
"Oh give it a rest," Hermione sighed, shooting Ron an exasperated look.
"Can it Hermione, it's not your sister acting like a scarlet woman... in public!" Ron shot back.
"Don't you use that tone with me Ronald Weasley or I'll give you the same treatment I gave Malfoy in our third year," Hermione warned.
"You don't scare me, you're always siding with her...
"So do you know anything about Diagon Alley?" Harry whispered to Tonks as Ron and Hermione began to bicker loudly, drawing the attention of everyone within earshot.
"I've been locked down just like you have," Tonks said, shooting him an exasperated look.
"Yeah we need to find a way to communicate with each other when we're in our house common rooms," Harry muttered as he picked at his lunch.
"I could ask Sirius if he can make make a set of those mirrors," Tonks suggested.
"That would be perfect," Harry agreed.
"As long as you don't try and get me to use them while I'm taking s shower or something," Tonks smirked.
"I hadn't even considered that idea, though now that you mention it..." Harry trailed off with a thoughtful look.
Before Tonks could say anything else, the post owls began to fly into the hall. Idly Harry noticed a few students at the Slytherin table received owls that were clutching a black envelope in their talons.
Harry watched as an owl clutching a Daily Prophet flew to land in front of Tonks and she quickly paid the bird before unfurling her paper.
Werewolves Attack Diagon Alley! Ministry Deploys Secret Weapon to Overwhelming Success!
Death Eaters Flee From Albus Dumbledore!
Fenrir Greyback Attacks Hogwarts Attacked! Lone Auror Slays Greyback and Saves School!
Harry read the headline over Tonks' shoulder and couldn't help but gasp when he saw the picture underneath the main headline. The picture showed the aftermath of the battle, Diagon Alley was a wreck and Harry could just make out the Quality Quidditch Supplies sign over a pile of rubble that used to be the quidditch store. Most of the other storefronts were destroyed but it didn't look near as bad as Hogsmeade and there were no fires that he could see.
On the street, there were dozens of werewolves all laid out in a line, even in the black and white photo he could clearly see that they were dead. Harry could make out grey-coloured holes in their heads, their tongues were lolling out of their mouths. The werewolves were truly massive and easily dwarfed the aurors walking around in the background.
From what Harry could tell, the aurors had been held up by about twenty death eaters while two civilians had kept the pack of werewolves back. Once Dumbledore showed up, the death eaters fled and the aurors made short work of the pack of werewolves. Even more incredible was the fact that there were only four aurors killed during the battle.
"That went much better than it could have," Tonks muttered.
"How many death eaters were killed?" Harry asked.
"Seven and they captured two of them" Tonks answered as she set the paper down.
"Thank god, are we still on for tonight?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Yep, can't have you slacking off," Tonks smirked.
"Of course not," Harry agreed, giving her a warm smile.
"Do those two always bicker like that, it's giving me a headache," Tonks asked as she looked back over at Ron and Hermione who were still arguing, though at this point it had nothing to do with Ginny.
"Yep, at first we thought they just liked each other but it's pretty obvious that's not it," Harry sniggered.
"Excuse me, may I have your attention please?" Dumbledore called out over the hall, finally bringing his friends' argument to an end... for now.
"Last night four werewolves entered the castle but were stopped in the entrance hall by a ministry auror This was the reason for the extended lockdown as those of you that take the paper probably already know. Classes will resume this afternoon but I ask that you stay out of the aurors way as they finish processing the entrance hall, thank you," Dumbledore said before he retook his seat.
"Come on, we still have twenty minutes before classes start," Tonks said as she stood up and pulled Harry out of his seat.
"Where are you two going?" Hermione asked as she saw them getting up.
"None of your business, Granger," Wendy said shooting the younger girl a warning look.
"Fine," Hermione huffed, giving Tonks a reproachful glare.
"I'll see you two in charms," Harry called over his shoulder.
"She gets on my nerves," Tonks huffed when they stepped into the entrance hall.
"She can be a bit pushy but she means well," Harry soothed as he looked around the entrance hall.
The ministry workers had finally finished cleaning the entrance hall but the smell of Mrs Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover still hung heavy in the air. Harry noticed there were scratch marks on the flagstones but otherwise you couldn't tell anything had happened here.
"I fired on them from the stairs," Tonks whispered as she led him towards the staircase.
"I'm just glad you're okay, when Hermione told me what happened I was freaking out," Harry admitted as they began climbing the stairs, quickly leaving the entrance hall behind them.
"How could she know what happened?" Tonks asked as they passed the second-floor landing.
"Well I have this map that identifies where everyone is on the Hogwarts grounds," Harry said looking away from Tonks.
"No, does that mean she knows who I really am?" Tonks demanded.
"Yeah," Harry nodded, giving Tonks an apologetic smile.
"Great, who else knows?" Tonks muttered.
"Just Hermione," Harry assured her.
"Bones knows too," Tonks added as she pushed Harry so his back was against the hallway wall.
"Damn, how did she know?" Harry asked as Tonks got much closer to him so her soft chest was pressing into his.
"We'll talk about it later," Tonks whispered as she pulled his head down to hers and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.
Harry eagerly returned the kiss deciding that talking about it later was fine with him, right now they had more important things to worry about.
Gringotts, London, 3/8/1996, 14:28
Sirius stepped on of the bank holding a silk bag by the drawstrings. After months of inquiries, he had finally done it!
He'd had to use every trick he knew to pull this off before the goblins finally relented and let him enter her vault. Once inside the vault, he used a spell Albus had taught him and quickly located what he was after, a golden cup.
The cup was small and looked like it was made of solid gold, it had two finely-wrought handles and a badger intricately engraved into one side of it. The cup's base was raised making it look more like a trophy than something you would drink tea out of.
The cup was in the very back of the vault on a high shelve. The shelf was recessed and looked like it had literally been chiselled into the stone wall of the vault. Sirius had weaved his way through mountains of gold coins, silver armour, skins of great creatures with long spines and drooping wings, potions in jewelled flasks and a skull donning a crown with blue sapphires set into it being careful not to touch any of it as his cousin was known to set traps.
When he finally reached the row of shelves, he found a simple wooden ladder leaning up against the back wall of the vault. He had quickly climbed the ladder, noting that the lower shelves were filled with books, and plucked the cup from the topmost shelf near the ceiling of the vault.
As soon as he got close to it Sirius felt the vile magic radiating off of the harmless-looking object and knew this was exactly what he was after.
Sirius quickly placed the cup in a silk bag and hurried to leave the bank so he could pass it along to Albus. Sirius had been present for the destruction of two of these things already.
The locket had tried to play mind games with everyone around it before Alastor had slammed the sword of Gryffindor into it, the locket was cut in half as black most burst out of it followed by an earsplitting inhuman scream.
The ring had a nasty withering curse on it coupled with a powerful compulsion charm that had very nearly tricked Albus into putting it on his finger. Luckily, Mad-Eye had used a gentle method to pull the headmaster back to his senses. Sirius sniggered as he remembered watching Alastor haul off and bitch slap Albus Dumbledore in his own office.
Sirius hoped this one wouldn't be as much trouble as the other two but he wouldn't hold his breath. These things were filled with magic so foul that even his ancestors wouldn't mess with it.
Sirius doubted the headmaster would have even let him in on this hunt if Albus wasn't so concerned about Snape's wellbeing. After Sirius had threatened to murder the greasy-haired hook-nose bastard, Albus had brought Sirius in on his theory about Voldemort creating multiple horcruxes in exchange for letting the spy attend meetings at his mum's old house.
Since then, they had been working to round the soul anchors up. Though now they had hit a bit of a dead end. They had no leads on the last two horcruxes and would have to go back to the drawing board.
Still, getting this cup was a victory for the order, they were one step closer to destroying that noseless bastard.
Siris crossed the alley noticing that they had already repaired Quality Quidditch Supplies and Twilfitt and Tattings. Truthfully if he hadn't been here the other night, Sirius doubted he would be able to tell that a battle was fought here.
Deciding he had lingered enough, Sirius turned on the spot, apparating back to headquarters so he could send a message to Albus.
Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 3/9/1996, 22:39
Tonks took her usual seat beside Sirius, after the werewolf attack she'd had no choice but to accompany Dumbledore out of the castle since all of the secret passages had been sealed shut. This worked out pretty well in her opinion, as they were the last ones here.
"Alright, now that we are all here, we can begin. Kingsley, you were in charge of the alley, what do we know?" Dumbledore asked, getting the meeting started as soon as he had taken his seat.
"Two weeks before the full moon Corban Yaxley and Lucius Malfoy killed the owner of the Goblin's Breath Inn and began moving werewolves there," Kingsley started off.
"So they took over a building in Knockturn Alley?" Arthur asked in understanding.
"Exactly, they needed the werewolves close to Diagon Alley as possible. Marla Corvinus, led the attack on the alley while Greyback took a smaller team into Hogwarts," Kingsley answered.
"Who is Marla Corvinus?" Bill asked.
"Greyback's beta, she was a solid white werewolf from what I gather," Kingsley replied.
"The wolf that almost got me and Fleur," Bill said in realization.
"Aye, I put six of those four fifty-five slugs into the bitch," Moody exclaimed with a satisfied smile.
"She was just as bad as Greyback and had over a dozen warrants in nine countries," Kingsley added.
"How is Voldemort taking this recent failure?" Dumbledore asked as he glanced over at Snape.
"He has given Yaxley an ultimatum to get a source in the auror department or else," Snape answered.
"Does he have someone in mind?" Kingsley asked warily.
"Auror John Dawlish, Yaxley believes he can be bought," Snape answered.
"That doesn't surprise me much," Tonks snorted.
"Me either, there was a reason he was always on Fudge's protection detail, Dawlish is as crooked as they come," Kingsley agreed.
"So why not use him to feed the other side bad information?" Bill asked as if it were obvious.
"Because he'd still be able to give them a lot of insight into our operations. The only reason those silver bullets were so effective was because the other side didn't know we had them," Moody grunted.
"We shall have to think on this, the last thing we need is for the death eaters to have eyes on our department," Kingsley said thoughtfully.
"So why not put Dawlish under the imperius curse?" Snape suggested.
"Death eaters always go straight for the unforgiveables," Sirius snorted.
"He could be onto something, Black," Moody said thoughtfully.
"We can't use unforgiveables," Molly exclaimed, looking aghast.
"Now Molly, I am not opposed to this if it ensures the safety of the wizarding world," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.
"Really, Albus?" Elphias Doge asked, sounding surprised.
"I would prefer to keep Voldemort blind if at all possible," Dumbledore answered.
"Very well, I will keep a close watch on him," Moody grunted.
"Do you have any idea what will happen next?" Sirius asked Snape.
"No, the dark lord has been spending a lot of time alone with LeStrange. From what I hear, she has been taking a small team somewhere on the coast but I have no idea what they are getting up to," Snape admitted.
"That is troubling," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.
"Why?" Sirius asked in confusion.
"Because I haven't a clue what he could be doing either," Dumbledore admitted.
"Minerva, how goes the project to remove the acromantula?" Moody asked.
"Mr Scamander has already begun the process of removing the smaller acromantula to a holding facility," Minerva answered.
"How's Hagrid handling that?" Arthur asked.
"He's devastated but he understands why they cannot stay where they are," Minerva sighed.
"Explains why he's not here," Moody snorted.
"Actually he's assisting Newt in wrangling up the acromantula," Minerva corrected.
"Do we have any news on the giants, Elphias?" Albus asked, hoping to avoid an argument between two of his former students.
"No, they entered a warded property on the French coast. We have been unable to monitor them for the past few days," Elphias admitted.
"Great, so we should probably prepare for a giant attack any day now," Sirius muttered.
"Giants could be a problem," Moody admitted with a grave expression on his gnarled face.
"I don't even know how we would deal with a giant," Tonks admitted.
"Two ways lass, blunt force or electricity," Moody replied.
"Or you can trap them in deadfall traps, or so I've heard," Dumbledore added.
"We'll worry about giants when we get more intel, right now all we know is the other side is planning something," Moody grunted.
"I couldn't agree more Alastor," Dumbledore said.
"There is another meeting next week, I will try and get more information on what LeStrange is up to," Snape promised.
"Excellent, but do be careful," Albus said.
"I always am, he has become more dangerous of late," Snape muttered with a shake of his head.
"Finally I would like to commend Nymphadora on her handling of the attack at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said,
Tonks blushed as every head turned in her direction, making Tonks feel like she was under a spotlight.
"Thanks but if you hadn't got there when you did, I would have been wolf chow," Tonks chuckled hoping to push the focus off of her.
"I have no doubt you would have defeated your final foe with ease," Dumbledore waved her off.
"You can expect one hell of a Christmas bonus for taking out Greyback," Kingsley said as he slid a tiny cardboard box across the table to her.
"What's this?" Tonks asked as she picked it up, noticing it was quite heavy for its size.
"Twenty rounds of silver-jacketed hollow points though I doubt there will be any more werewolf encounters after the other night," Kingsley answered.
"There won't be, werewolves are leaving the British Isles in droves," Remus cut in, giving the box a wary look.
"Are they scared of the ministry?" Dumbledore asked.
"Terrified, the ministry has always hated us but now we know they have the means to exterminate our kind," Remus explained.
"I fear the European ministries will adopt this method soon," Dumbledore predicted.
"The French ministry already have, according to Fleur," Bill admitted.
"Either way, I do not believe werewolves will be a problem in this war any longer," Dumbledore said.
"No, they are all heading east across Europe," Elphias agreed.
"While we're on the subject of werewolves, I believe you and your Ms Delacour were responsible for holding them off, William?" Dumbledore asked.
"We were, we would have been overrun if Moody hadn't shown up when he did," Bill admitted.
"You and that French girlfriend of yours did a bang-up job," Sirius beamed.
"Fiancée," Bill corrected.
"I still thank you two are rushing into-
"Molly not now," Arthur sighed, shooting his wife a warning look.
"Congratulations mate," Sirius beamed.
"Thanks as you can tell, mum isn't fully on board yet," Bill chuckled.
"I believe that will be all for this meeting, though congratulations Mr Weasley, Miss Delacour is a fine woman and we wish you both the happiest of unions," Albus proclaimed and got a round of applause from everyone at the table.
Only two people failed to applaud the announcement. There was Molly Weasley who disapproved of his son marrying some French tart and refused to acknowledge their engagement. Then there was Severus Snape who didn't care who was marrying who as long as he didn't have to teach their unruly offspring.
Not long after, the meeting broke up and Tonks followed the headmaster as he led her into the sitting room fireplace.
"How is Harry's training coming along?" Dumbledore asked in a curious tone.
"He's doing well. Though like me, he's getting frustrated with being stuck inside the castle," Tonks said, giving Dumbledore a pointed look.
"I fear you will both be thrust into the fighting very soon whether you wish to or not," Dumbledore confessed as he opened the floo connection into his office at Hogwarts.
"I don't really want him going into a fight," Tonks admitted before she stepped into the green flame.
"Neither do I Nymphadora," Dumbledore said softly right before she was sucked into the green vortex of the floo network.
Hogwarts Grounds, 3/15/1996, 15:39
Harry and Tonks (disguised as Wendy) were walking by the lake holding hands as they enjoyed an unseasonably warm day. Classes were over after lunch and they had decided to spend some time outside before dinner.
Over the last few weeks, the school had been on edge after the news of the werewolf attack at the castle had made its rounds. Most students still couldn't believe that Fenrir Greyback had been killed a few hundred feet from where they lay their heads at night.
The ministry was still riding on a wave of good press from successfully thwarting the attack on Diagon Alley and had since raided quite a few more homes of people suspected of being involved with the death eaters. A few arrests had been made and millions of galleons in property and assets had been seized to be used for the war effort.
Harry and Tonks had fallen back into their training schedule pushing themselves as hard as they could in their physical training. They also continued to work through the Black family spells, learning as much from the book as they could stomach. Tonks had given him a rough idea of what the order was up to which unfortunately wasn't very much.
Harry knew the calm wouldn't last long and that Voldemort would strike again very soon. By now things had turned into a tit for tar between Voldemort's forces and the ministry with the order caught in the middle.
"I have been given a commendation for slaying Fenrir Greyback, Kingsley sent me the medal at breakfast this morning," Tonks said, breaking the silence.
"That's good, isn't it?" Harry asked as they came to a stop by a beech tree in a flat spot that formed a natural beach with the waves of the lake lapping over the sand about twenty feet from the tree.
"Yeah, it means I'll have an easier time being promoted," Tonks admitted as they took a seat with their backs to the tree.
"Auror Captain Tonks has a nice ring to it," Harry said thoughtfully.
"It does, doesn't it," Tonks agreed as she lifted his arm and snuggled into his side.
"I'm sorry you're stuck at the school, I know if I was in your place it would be driving me mental," Harry said as he looked down at her.
"It is though I do love training with you," Tonks said.
"Same here, though I could do without all of the dodging practice," Harry said only half-jokingly.
"That's my favourite part," Tonks smirked.
"I can't say I agree, I think like the hand-to-hand training the most," Harry grinned.
"Trust me I know exactly how much you like it," Tonks sniggered.
"Well those pins are quite... intimate," Harry whispered into her ear.
"Well you had better enjoy it, I'm not sure if I'll be able to train with you next year," Tonks admitted.
"I'm really going to miss you next year," Harry lamented.
"From what I've heard, Bones is going to keep me at the school, so I will still be here but I'll be in my official capacity," Tonks admitted.
"That would be cool," Harry said as he gazed out over the lake.
"Yeah I'm actually pretty pleased about that," Tonks agreed.
"You're just glad to be done with history of magic class," Harry chuckled.
"Who wouldn't be, so what's up with your defence class?" Tonks asked.
"I've started teaching them the patronus charm," Harry beamed.
"That's a bit advanced, isn't it?" Tonks asked as she turned her head to look up at him.
"I learned it in my third year, they're actually picking it up pretty well," Harry said as he met her gaze.
"We didn't learn that spell until the seventh year and only a few of us could cast a corporal patronus," Tonks admitted.
"What is your patronus!" Harry asked curiously.
"It was a rabbit but it changed a few months ago," Tonks said sounding perplexed.
"It changed?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Yeah, I don't know why," Tonks admitted.
"What is it now?" Harry asked with interest.
"Oh look there's Hagrid," Tonks said as she glanced over to the edge of the forest.
Harry glanced over to see Hagrid wiping his eye with the sleeve of his coat as he stepped out of the Forbidden Forest near his hut.
"Wonder what's the matter with him," Harry said thoughtfully.
"McGonagall has a team in the forest relocating the acromantula colony away from the school," Tonks explained as she watched Hagrid disappear into his hut.
"Really?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Yep, she's been working on getting them moved since the start of term," Tonks said as she slid so that she was sitting in his lap so that her back was leaning against his chest and her head resting on his left shoulder.
"Can't say I'm upset about that, those things almost ate me and Ron," Harry snorted as he wrapped his arms around her so that his hands were resting on her stomach.
"That's what Bill said," Tonks grinned as she placed her hands over his.
"I guess Ron must have spilt the beans," Harry snorted.
"Yeah he did, Molly about blew a gasket when she heard that you and Ron ran into those things," Tonks sniggered.
"You should have seen Ron, he was seconds away from a nervous breakdown," Harry said as he remembered Ron's face when thousands of acromantula had surrounded them back in their second year.
"Can't say I blame him, spiders give me the creeps," Tonks admitted.
"So would you like to go on a real date with me over Easter?" Harry asked.
"Where would we go?" Tonks asked, a wide smile playing on her lips.
"I don't know, maybe see another movie or go to a video arcade," Harry suggested.
"Arcade sounds good," Tonks said, sounding like she really liked that idea.
"Alright arcade it is but we're not playing wack-a-mole," Harry said firmly causing Tonks to snort.
"Agreed, I want to play some video games anyway," Tonks said.
"Fine after that we can go get a pizza," Harry bargained.
"Deal, I could go for some pizza and a snog," Tonks said before pulling his head down and kissing him gently.
"Well I can't get you a pizza right now," Harry said in a husky tone after she had broken the kiss.
"True, I guess we'll just have to jump straight to the snog-
"Harry, there you are," Hermione's voice called out making them both jump in surprise.
"Sometimes I just want to strangle that girl," Tonks muttered so only Harry could hear her.
"Hermione, I'm a bit busy right now," Harry said in a tone of annoyance.
"I can see that but we have a slight problem," Hermione sighed.
"What is it?" Harry sighed as Tonks slid off his lap.
"Ron got hexed on his way to the library," Hermione answered.
"What!?" Harry exclaimed in alarm.
"From what I gather he was hit with a hex that makes painful boils sprout all over his... his bits," Hermione said, her face flushing slightly.
"Do we know who did it?" Harry asked, trying not to imagine how painful that must be.
"That Vane girl, he broke things off with her at lunch and she didn't take it very well," Hermione said.
"So why did you have to interrupt our alone time to tell us this?" Tonks demanded.
"I thought Harry would want to know," Hermione said sheepishly.
"So he could what, cry over Ron's swollen bits," Tonks snorted derisively, as she glared at the other girl.
"Thanks for letting me know, Hermione," Harry said secretly agreeing with Tonks on this one.
"I'll just let you two get back to...
Hermione trailed off before she made a hasty retreat, leaving them to stare at her retreating back.
"That girl needs a good hard shag," Tonks muttered.
"Don't we all," Harry said, giving Tonks a pointed look.
"Well don't get your hopes up Potter, I am not going to jail for a roll in the sheets with you," Tonks said flatly.
"Well damn," Harry sighed dramatically.
"The age of consent is sixteen in the wizarding world," Tonks said in a casual tone.
"Then I bet you can guess what I want for my birthday," Harry said causing Tonks to snort in amusement.
"We'll see, I wonder why the girl cursed Weasley's bits," Tonks said thoughtfully.
"He has a thing for Megan Jones, I bet he tried to ditch Vane like he did Lavender," Harry shrugged already thinking of ribbing Ron about this later.
"He really does like airheads, doesn't he?" Tonks said as she slid back into Harry's lap, though this time she was straddling him so she was looking down at him.
"Yep, he seems to have a type," Harry agreed.
"No IQ and big breasts," Tonks chuckled.
"Actually Lavender is pretty intelligent," Harry corrected.
"Well Jones isn't, that girl is a vapid moron," Tonks muttered.
"I don't care about them right now," Harry said huskily before pulling Tonks' head down and capturing her lips in a deep kiss.
"N-Neither do I," Tonks said breathily when he broke the kiss.
After that, they stopped talking and things devolved into physical pursuits, making up for all the time they had been separated over the last month.
'I am really starting to love this girl,' Harry thought to himself as Tonks' tongue begged entrance into his mouth.
Hogwarts Express, 4/1/1996, 14:39
Harry and Ron sat on one side of the compartment while Ginny and Hermione took up the other side. They had just finished their snack from the trolley and Ron was trying to talk them into a game of exploding snap.
"So mum and dad have decided that we're going to Italy over the break so I won't be able to write to you all," Hermione said when Ron had finally put the deck of cards up.
"Oh that sounds lovely," Ginny gushed as she gave Hermione an envious look.
"I wouldn't mind going there myself," Harry agreed thinking of the beaches Andi had told him about.
"Yeah can you imagine the food they have over there," Ron said dreamily.
"I am more interested in the art and the history," Hermione said, rolling her eyes at Ron's one-track mind.
"Whatever, you can even make a vacation boring," Ron sniggered.
"Is that Romilda?" Ginny asked as she looked at the door.
"I'm not falling for that again," Ron huffed, shooting his smirking sister a glare.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Ginny shrugged as the compartment door opened and Ron's head jerked that way in alarm.
"Calm down mate, it's only Lovegood," Harry chuckled as Luna entered their compartment humming softly.
"What are you doing over the holidays, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking like she was struggling not to laugh at Ron's reaction.
"I'm not sure, to be honest," Harry said as Luna took a seat on the other side of him.
Harry chuckled as Luna positioned herself so that her back was resting against the window and her feet were resting on his lap.
"Hello Luna," Harry smiled.
"Hello Harry," Luna said as she opened her copy of The Quibbler.
"Where are your shoes?" Harry asked as he eyes her dirty bare feet warily.
"I left them in my trunk, spring is here," Luna exclaimed as if that explained everything.
"Have your dorm mates been treating you better?" Ginny asked looking a bit amused by their interaction.
"They leave whenever I come around, I suspect muffkiffles" Luna shrugged.
"Anything good in there?" Harry asked in amusement.
"Yes, after the fast food conspiracy articles, daddy decided to do a similar series on the real story of muggle breakfast cereal," Luna explained.
"Oh brother," Harry muttered already knowing Tonks would have a blast with those articles.
"This month we did a segment on poor Lucky and why they are always after his Lucky Charms," Luna smiled.
"You should get an interview with Seamus," Ron chortled.
"I tried but he's avoiding me for some reason," Luna pouted.
"That's rude of him," Ginny giggled.
"Did you find out why they're after his lucky charms?" Harry asked as he subtly pushed her foot away from his crotch.
"Because they're magically delicious but he wouldn't let me confirm that for myself," Luna sighed as she moved her feet back where they were.
"Good heavens," Hermione muttered looking at the quirky Ravenclaw in alarm.
The door to the compartment opened again and Wendy stepped in, shooting Luna an exasperated sigh.
"I should have known," Tonks said as she took a seat beside Hermione.
"We were just discussing The Quibbler," Harry said as looked over at Tonks.
"The cereal stories," Tonks said with interest.
"Yes, next month there will be an article about the Trix rabbit and why children are so mean to him," Luna said happily.
'This is going to be a long trip,' Harry thought to himself as he pushed Luna's feet away from his crotch... again.
AN: I'll go ahead and admit that I am still undecided on what to use for Tonks' patronus form. In a perfect world, I would have made it a doe but Snape already has that one and who wants to copy Snape? I wish I had thought of the cougar patronus first because it is gold. I have an idea of what I am going to do for her patronus but it will take quite a while to come to fruition, so for the time being I will leave it as a sort of mystery.